Plagued
by hidden.in.a.dark.corner
Summary: After the group shuts down the superomputer, Ulrich's life spirals downwards, despite Yumi's promise. He grows distant. What will it take to bring him back? Rated T for safety
1. Chapter 1

Ulrich awoke from his dream, cold sweat dripping down from his forehead into his eyes as he bolted upright. He took a deep breath, calming himself. He sighed and closed his eyes. _It was only a dream, _he thought. A dream he only knew all too well in reality. His father's calls plagued him every day, and had just begun invading his dreams as well.

He looked at the clock. 2:14 AM. He'd done this earlier.

Creeping quietly out of bed, he hoped furtively that he wouldn't wake Odd (even with his tremendous snoring).

Odd didn't know about these nightly excursions. No one did, and Ulrich didn't plan on letting anyone know. He didn't want to ruin their happiness.

He quietly stepped into a pair of shorts and some socks, opening the dorm room door as he grabbed his shoes. When it had shut silently behind him, he sat down against the wall to put on his shoes, grateful that Kiwi hadn't bothered to bark.

After he'd gone down a few flights of stairs to reach ground level (he didn't dare use the elevator) and made sure the side door was unlocked, he started jogging. He slowly built up speed as he ran towards the small forest near the academy, trusting his unnaturally good night vision to guide him. Maybe it was his training on Lyoko that had caused it, he wondered idly, sprinting now. But soon all thought faded from Ulrich's mind and he concentrated on the beat of his heart and the ragged pattern of his breathing. Leaving all troubles behind him, he fell into the nothingness in his head and the tingling numbness in the tips of his fingers and ears.

He ran a path through the woods he had forged himself—trampled plants and packed dirt that wove through the trees and made a large loop through the center of the forest back to the school's campus.

His feet knew that path well, and in about a half hour he had reached the edge of the trees. He slowed to a brisk walk as he crossed the schoolyard, adrenaline still pumping, but the numb feeling fading. Finally, his feet dragged as he reached the side door, his anxiety returned, but dulled.

He crept back to bed, tugged off his shoes and shorts, and fell into an exhausted sleep.

…

"CRAP!" Odd yelped, jumping out of bed. "We're gonna miss breakfast, Ulrich! Get up!"

Ulrich groaned, opening his eyes slightly, glancing at the clock. "5 more minutes, Odd." He closed his eyes again, knowing that it would be worth it to catch another hour's sleep today, even without breakfast. "Save me a muffin, will you?"

"If there are any left when I'm done with them," said Odd breezily. "But don't you have a test to study for today? I think you told me to remind you."

U

Ulrich's eyes snapped open. The science test. He hadn't studied the night before. He quickly rolled out of bed, grabbing his jacket, pants and shoes. Brushing his teeth would have to wait. "I'm right behind you," he called after Odd, grabbing his textbook and notes.

When they arrived at the lunchroom, Odd scrambled to get a tray and join the last of the late sleepers in the breakfast line. Ulrich immediately took a seat next to Jeremie and opened his book.

"Cramming for Mrs. Hertz's test today, Ulrich?" asked Aelita sweetly.

"Yeah," he replied. Then, a bit desperately, "Will you quiz me?" The rest of the meal was spent with Jeremie firing questions at Ulrich, his stammering answers, Aelita's kind corrections, and the ambience of Odd's chewing.

When there was five minutes left of breakfast, Odd asked, "Did you even eat anything, Ulrich?" Ulrich shook his head.

"Have something to drink at least, then," Aelita suggested, pushing a glass of orange juice towards him. Ulrich chugged it down, then quickly continued to skim over the last pages of his notes. All too soon, the bell rang.

As his friends slowly wandered out of the cafeteria to the vending machines, where they normally met Yumi in the morning, Ulrich began to walk to Mrs. Hertz's classroom. He caught sight of Yumi joining the others, and she gave a slow wave, which he caught out of the corner of his eye. He kept walking.

Ulrich could barely stand to see Yumi these days. She had promised good times ahead, and that had been proven to be true—for everyone else. For Ulrich, things had just gotten worse.

While the others adjusted to life with out Lyoko smoothly but gradually—even Aelita, with the loss of her father—Ulrich had a hard time giving it up. Lyoko had been way for him to become the person he truly thought he was—a hero and a warrior. It had helped him to forget all of the troubles in his own life, if only for a few moments, in order to save many others. It was a distraction, and kept his spirits up. He and his friends were closer than any time before, as they fought together to keep the world—and each other— from falling apart. When they shut down the supercomputer, all of it had been taken away.

So many things had gone wrong after that. His grades had dropped, even with the extra studying he packed in. He couldn't sleep, and his performance on the soccer team suffered as well. The others seemed distant to him, and he couldn't shake off the feeling of helplessness that weighted down his arms and legs and constantly fatigued him. When his grades had dropped so that he was almost failing all his classes, his soccer coach had reluctantly kicked him off the team, and the principal had called his father.

Ulrich had never heard his old man so upset at him. He had shouted angrily at him in German on the other end of the phone, with Ulrich agreeing or disagreeing at the appropriate times in muted tones. His father had threatened to send him to a boarding school back home, but Ulrich had begged him not to. He couldn't have handled that, for distant though Yumi and his friends were, he couldn't part with them. His father had relented, and Ulrich had been allowed to stay as long as he brought his grades back up.

He had studied harder than he ever had before, and managed to raise his grades up so that he was in an average range. However, his father had not allowed him to rejoin the soccer team, as he thought it would distract him from his studies. Ulrich struggled to keep his scores constant, and spent all free time buried in his books and notes. The others offered to help, and sometimes did, but Ulrich was left alone most of the time. His melancholy mood had continued to linger.

His father called daily, normally to yell. Words were his father's favorite weapon, and unfortunately for Ulrich, it seemed he had a lot to scream about. Everything he did was wrong. If he brought up a grade, it wasn't high enough. If he completed a project, it wasn't good enough. Soon, Ulrich could hardly stand it.

He was only able to catch a few hours sleep each night, sometimes only every other night. His hands shook constantly, so he shoved them in his pockets to keep anyone from noticing. He couldn't eat, and when he managed to force down an entire meal in one sitting, he couldn't keep it down. He jumped whenever someone's phone rang, and dreaded the nightly calls.

His body seemed heavier than normal, even though he had lost weight. He couldn't smile anymore, and didn't have the energy to even snigger at Odd's snide comments about Sissi. He dragged himself from class to class in a daze, walking slowly as though each step took great effort.

When he started having nightmares during his scant hours of sleep, he had started running.

…

A/N: So there you have it! My first chapter. Please R&R and tell me what you think of it. I'll add another one when I can, school just started. (But reviews help my motivation!) Thank you to all of you who read this!


	2. Chapter 2

Ulrich struggled to remember the answers to the questions that he had been taught only a half and hour ago, his forehead resting in his hand. Sweat trickled through his fingers and dripped on his test. Frustrated, he wiped his hand on his pants. He painstakingly filled in each answer on the test, hesitating on every one. When the bell finally rang, his hands made the paper tremble as he left it on Mrs. Hertz's desk.

He went through the rest of his morning classes with a feeling of dread. _I've failed again,_ he thought desperately, _I know I have._ His paranoia continued through lunch, and unable to eat anything due to his roiling stomach, he waited for his friends at the table, fingers drumming out a nervous beat.

"Ulrich, are you alright? You look pale." Surprised, Ulrich looked up to find himself face to face with Yumi. His drumming fingers stopped abruptly.

"I'm fine," he answered curtly, turning his face away. He couldn't stare into her deep brown eyes for long without feeling guilty.

Yumi's brow creased, but she set her mouth into a hard line. Sitting down across from him, she began to eat in silence. Ulrich put his hands into his pockets and stared at the small different colored flecks in the lunch table. He didn't have enough strength left in him to be able to look up at her without blurting out everything. He couldn't do that, he reminded himself, _No one must know._

…

The final bell rang, and Ulrich hurried out of his classroom, anxious to start his homework. Fortunately, he did not have any tests or quizzes on Monday, but he could barely understand anything the teacher had taught in math, and history was a blur, even though he took detailed notes. But Yumi stopped him at the vending machines.

"Ulrich! Where're the others?" she called, walking towards him.

"Behind me, I think," he replied brusquely, trying to brush past her.

"No, don't go, Ulrich," she said softly, catching him by the arm. He remained facing away from her. "I have something I want to tell all of you."

Without looking at her, he slowly sat down on a bench near her. She followed suit, and they sat quietly. Ulrich secretly listened to her slow breathing, though he looked at the ground and pretended to be annoyed.

When the others arrived, Yumi stood up, while everyone else took a seat. _She must have told the others to meet here before,_ thought Ulrich miserably. _Everyone but me._

"I know we've all been really busy lately," she began, "with schoolwork and trying to go back to normal lives…" The others chuckled quietly. "So I thought that maybe it was time for a bit of a break. I think we could all just use some time to hang out with each other, someplace that's not at school." She smiled at her friends' confused looks.

"Since my parents lent me their car, got permission from the school, and I just got my restrictions off of my license, I'm taking you all out to dinner. You could all use an actual meal—" She was cut off as Odd almost barreled her over in a hug.

"DINNER!" Odd cried. "You're my best friend in the _whole, wide_ world! Where are we going?" he continued, amid laughter from the group.

"Well," Yumi giggled, "I figured we'd go to this good sushi place my family goes to a lot."

"Foreign cuisine!" Odd crowed. "Even better!"

Much laughter ensued.

…

Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, Yumi and Ulrich all sat at table in the restaurant later that night, waiting for their food. The others hadn't known what to order, so Yumi had ordered something for each of them. As they waited, Odd entertained them by imitating a krabe and attacking them with two pairs of chopsticks, Aelita shared her latest musical accomplishments, and Jeremie chattered about new programs he was inventing. Yumi laughed, and joined in the pleasant conversation, but kept glancing at the increasingly silent boy across from her.

Ulrich was becoming tenser by the second, sweating and shaking. His hand was wrapped around his mobile in his pocket, waiting. He knew his father would call soon, this was just about the time that he checked his grades online. He gritted his teeth, knowing that he was in for a torrent of insults and reprimands when his phone rang.

"The food's here!" Odd laughed, delighted. "What'd I get?"

As Yumi directed the waitress, the others looked skeptically at the food that was placed in front of them. Odd immediately tucked in, saying through a mouthful, "Dis is deelisuss!"

Jeremie peered at the food on his plate. "Uh, Yumi? Are you sure this is safe to eat?" he asked, poking it with a chopstick.

Yumi laughed. "Yes, I'm sure, Jeremie. Look, if it makes you feel better, Aelita and I will eat some first." Aelita shot her a glare.

Resignedly, Ulrich picked up his chopsticks. He was about to pick up a piece of sushi when he phone rang. He froze, staring straight ahead. Yumi noticed his sudden stiffening, and the sound coming from his pocket.

"Ulrich? Your phone's ringing."

"Yeah," he said quietly, slowly getting up from his seat. "Excuse me for a minute."

As he stepped out of the door of the restaurant into the cool, evening air, he answered his phone.

"Hello?"

A grave tone sounded from the phone. "Ulrich."

"Yes?"

"How do you ever expect to get anywhere in life without excellent grades?" Ulrich was quiet. His father exploded.

"A B-?! HOW WILL YOU CONTINUE THE FAMILY BUSINESS IF YOU CAN'T EVEN OBTAIN A DECENT GRADE ON A HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE QUIZ? WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR MIND? IT OBVIOUSLY ISN'T ON YOUR STUDIES!"

"I'm studying as hard as I can, Father," Ulrich mumbled.

"NO! YOU'RE NOT! YOU ARE NOT STUDYING AS HARD AS YOU CAN. I KNOW THAT NO SON OF MINE IS THIS INCOMPETENT BY ACCIDENT! OUR FAMILY IS COUNTING ON YOU TO UPHOLD OUR REPUTATION! SO FAR, YOU HAVEN'T SHOWN ME A SHRED OF EVIDENCE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO THAT!"

The berating continued for more than ten minutes. Ulrich endured it silently. Finally, it stopped.

"You will just have to do better next time," he said, and Ulrich heard the subtle threat in his voice. "Or I will bring you home."

There was a click as Ulrich's father hung up.

He knew he had to act fast. Running into the restaurant, he stopped briefly at the table.

"Odd," he said breathlessly, "do you think you could do me a favor?"

"Sure, Ulrich," Odd said, looking confused.

"Take this back to the dorm room," Ulrich said, shoving his bag and phone into Odd's arms. "And this too." He shrugged off his jacket. "I'll see you there later tonight."

"Where are you going? You'll catch cold without your jacket. Did something happen?" Yumi asked, looking concerned.

"No," Ulrich replied, pausing to turn and look at her over his shoulder, giving himself one last glance. "Everything's fine." He slammed the door.

As soon as he was past the restaurant window, he started running.

…

Here's the second chapter. I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I have been swamped with homework. I barely have anytime to relax, let alone write a story. But anyway, I hope you guys like it! And thank you all for the reviews!!!

Oh, and also, I have no idea how driving works in France, so I just wrote about Yumi's license and such as it is here. Same with online grades, but a lot of schools have that these days. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Yumi and the others sat quietly at their table, stunned by Ulrich's abrupt departure. They were silent for a long while: Jeremy and Aelita shared a glance, Odd stared at his friend's jacket in his arms, and Yumi glared at the door.

Finally, her eyes softened. "Where is he going?" she said softly, almost in a whisper. When no one answered, she looked up. "Odd, don't you know?" He shook his head mutely, for once speechless. Yumi stood up.

"I'm going after him," she declared, walking towards the door. "I'm tired of his attitude, and I want to know why he just left us. Without an apology," she added.

"Perhaps," Aelita began tentatively, "that isn't the best way to go about it. Surely you've noticed that something is wrong with Ulrich—besides stress from school. I don't think that charging after him and demanding an explanation would do anything, really. Maybe he just needs a little time by himself."

"He's been by himself for months! When we shut down the supercomputer, it was like he didn't have any time for us anymore!" Yumi had stopped in her tracks, seething.

"It would be a good idea to talk to him, though," said Jeremie diplomatically. "But I agree with Aelita that yelling probably isn't the best way to get Ulrich to talk to you."

"He used to tell me everything," said Odd suddenly, still looking down at Ulrich's jacket. "Now I don't know anything that's going on with him."

Impulsively, Yumi hugged her friend. She felt that, as his best friend, he was the only one who might understand how much Ulrich meant to her.

"I know, Odd. "

…

Ulrich had never wished to be emotionless as much as he did now. To be a machine—to be able to learn information and spit it back out correctly. To not be so affected by what others thought of him, and most importantly—to not care. It seemed that he couldn't have the capacity to care anymore, but somehow he did. Somehow, he just cared so much. He couldn't bring himself to think what it was he cared about though. He couldn't stand that, and Ulrich desperately wanted to be numb. He had never wanted that nothingness as much as he did at that moment.

He was running as fast and as hard as he could, his feet pounding the pavement towards the forest. The cold air stung his eyes, and he started to lose feeling in his fingers. His feet stung and prickled every time they slapped the concrete, warning him that he was losing circulation there as well. Ulrich didn't notice.

He ran on until he reached his path, and he sped up, knowing that his nothingness would soon overcome him. But this night, his senses and anxiety remained sharp, and he plunged off his path and into deeper woods, in an effort to quell them. Finally, he could feel them ebbing away.

Suddenly, Ulrich found himself on the ground. It seemed he had tripped on a root, but he couldn't quite remember. The cold and the emptiness in his stomach screamed at him from the back of his mind—he hadn't eaten all day, he remembered wryly—but those discomforts couldn't bother him now. He saw the blackness at the edges of his vision, and he felt he was outside of his body. The darkness drew him in deeper. Ulrich smiled.

…

Yumi paced back and forth in Odd and Ulrich's tiny dorm. The group had decided that it would be a good idea to finally figure out what was wrong with Ulrich—the time for waiting for him to tell them was long past. Yumi elected to be the one to talk to him, and the others conceded, knowing that if anyone could get it out of him, Yumi could. Odd watched her from his bed, silently. Even Kiwi was quiet.

She wrung her hands nervously. It was almost midnight, and they had returned from dinner around ten. _This is beyond maddening, _Yumi thought. _He should have been back by now. He should have been back two hours ago!_

"That's it," she declared, "I'm calling him." Odd made no move to stop her. She pressed the call button. A ringing noise came from across the room. As if in a daze, she moved towards it, setting her phone down on the floor. She dug around in Ulrich's bag.

"He left his phone," she said, squeezing the tiny vibrating device in her hand. "He's gone, and we don't know where he is." She swung her gaze to Odd's face, whose eyes were as wide as hers.

…

A/N: This is a really short chapter, but I liked it that way. Plus, I have a little bit of writer's block. But not to worry! I will come up with another chapter soon enough! You guys are lucky, this could have been a long time coming, but we had a three-day weekend last week. Thank you to all who reviewed! I love you all! Also, just a note, above when I said that Yumi thought Odd was the only one who could understand, I just want you guys to know that I wasn't putting Aelita or Jeremie down. That's just how Yumi was thinking at the moment…R&R please! Thanks!


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